On that Supreme Court vacancy

So the fabled Supreme Court vacancy is finally here, and not the one you expected.

Oh, well. Some Christian conservatives are preemptively attacking Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as unfit to be a Supreme Court justice. And the President is defending him:

He said he resented that some groups were attacking Gonzales, who was widely reported even before the vacancy was announced to be on the president's short list of candidates. Bush urged the Senate to join him in resisting pressure from outside organizations during the confirmation process.

"I hope the United States Senate conducts themselves in a way that brings dignity to the process, and that the senators don't listen to the special interest groups, particularly those on the extremes that are trying to exploit this opportunity for not only ... what they think is right, but also for their own fundraising capabilities," Bush said.

Bush did not identify the organizations he had in mind, but his admonition came in response to a question about criticism of Gonzales as a potential nominee.

I hope the Christian conservatives hear that, because it will and should make them angry. What democracy? "Don't listen to the special interest groups"--i.e. the people that got the president reelected.

But don't let the criticism from the right confuse you. Gonzales is not fit to be anywhere near the Supreme Court. Here is another reminder of why, and of course it has nothing to do with abortion. People look the other way, but as I have pointed out for the past year at least, under the current administration anybody--anybody, anywhere--can be thrown in prison for years without access to a lawyer or ever being charged. And torture is only wrong if it kills you, which sometimes it does. Meanwhile, you will be libeled in the press, like what happened with the "dirty bomber". The Supreme Court is the only thing that has put the breaks on this policy.